The word
Diamond comes from the Greek adamas meaning invincible. Diamond,
a form of crystallized carbon, is the hardest substance found in nature
and is the most well known stone to man. Up until the first quarter
of the 18th century, all diamonds came from India and Borneo. In1725,
diamonds were found in Brazil, but still had to be imported into Europe
via Goa and sold as Oriental gems, as many Europeans did not believe
Brazilian diamonds to be real. The Brazilian deposits were exhausted
by 1875, but luckily diamonds had been discovered nine years earlier
in South Africa, which immediately became the world’s largest
producer. Now, it is fifth in the world behind Russia, Botswana, Zaire
and Australia, which is currently the largest producer. Ask any number
of people how they would describe a diamond and the majority of the
responses would be along the lines of: "A very hard, white and
very expensive precious stone." The truth is that although many
diamonds are white, they are found in several different colors and
it is the "fancy" diamonds (as they are known) that are
the most prized. This is primarily because only one in every 100,000
or so has a deep enough color to qualify as a fancy stone. "Fancy"
diamonds vary in color from yellow to red to blue. Yellow, orange
and brown are the most common. They are, therefore, less expensive
than the most prized, which are red, green and blue. Reasons for the
coloration of diamonds include the presence of boron (blue), the presence
of nitrogen (yellow), a deformed chemical structure (brown, pink and
mauve) and a natural radiation (green).
